In the afternoon of March 29, the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts hosted one of the Southeast Kansas (SEK) Symphony’s concerts, titled “A Tribute to Dance.” The program featured four different pieces from different time periods, each one having one common theme that united them- they all had a fast, dance-type feeling, hence the concert’s name.
Under the conducting of Dr. Ramiro Miranda, an alumnus of Pittsburg State who joined the Southeast Kansas Symphony in the fall of 2023, the Symphony is made up of Pittsburg State students, staff, alumni, retired staff, and local high schoolers. In total, there are 56 musicians- fourteen violinists, six violists, six cellists, three flutists, two oboists, two clarinetists, three bassoonists, four horn players, three trumpeters, three trombonists, one tubist, six percussionists, one pianist, and three bassists, one of which was junior elementary education major Shelby Stein.
“I really like the (Blue Danube) waltzes,” commented Stein. “You really feel the rhythm, and everyone knows the melody.”
The concert was opened with a piece known as “Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3,” transcribed by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi in 1931. The piece, which was a collection of different pieces by different composers from the 16th and 17th century, was divided into four different movements. The first movement was called “Italiana,” written by an unknown composer in the late 16th century, followed by “Arie di corte,” which translates to Courtly Airs and was written by Jean-Baptiste Besard, who lived in the Holy Roman Empire. The third movement, titled Siciliana, was also written by an unknown composer, also in the late 16th century. The piece was concluded with the fourth movement, Passacaglia, by Italian composer Ludovico Roncalli in 1692.
The second piece to be performed was the “Karelia Suite, Op. 11,” written in 1893 by a Finnish composer by the name of Jean Sibelius. The “Karelia Suite” is made up of three different movements, all by Sibelius- Intermezzo, Ballade, and Alla marcia.
Following the “Karelia Suite” was “By the Beautiful Blue Danube Waltzes, Op. 314” by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, who has composed over 500 different waltzes and other dance pieces. By the Beautiful Blue Danube Waltzes is a commonly used piece in various aspects of media thanks to its association with floating and grace, featured in such media as “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
To close out the concert, Russian composer Alexander Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances,” which was used in the second act of Borodin’s opera, “Prince Igor,” was performed. The piece served as the inspiration for many different other songs, one of the most notable being Strangers in Paradise from the musical “Kismet.”
At the end of the show, the musicians were able to gather in the lobby of the Bicknell Center and see their families and friends. Junior marketing major and flutist Jaidyn Vanderpool had a couple of his friends waiting for him after the show.
“I was nervous about the whole thing,” Vanderpool commented, but he was happy that he was able to make it through the concert.
The Southeast Kansas Symphony has one more show this year, on May 3 at 3:00 p.m. at the Bicknell Center. They will collaborate with Dr. Susan Marchant and Pittsburg State University Choir to present renditions of Czech composer Antonín Dvořák’s pieces.